I took this during spring COVID quarter (online), so just keep that in mind.
Peris seems like a really nice guy, and was super accomodating through all the craziness going on in the world. He lessened our workload, and the midterm was really fair considering all the content we went over. He made the final optional and eased the grading scale a bunch, too. His lectures were engaging and funny at times, and he even connected his lectures to some current events, which was interesting. I really enjoyed his approach to the class.

PS he did get in trouble for saying the n-word while reading MLK's Birmingham letter during the George Floyd protests. He obviously shouldn't have done it, and it was hurtful people (esp BIPOC) even though he emphasized that he was saying it for historical context, and not to be malicious. His apology seemed genuine, and if it wasn't for that, I think he would really represent UCLA well as a full time prof.

Overall, Professor Peris did a solid job as the lecturer for Poli Sci 40. Although the lecture on systemic racism in which he read from MLK's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (which contains the n-word), will likely overshadow other moments in this class, Professor Peris did a great job preparing a well-organized, interesting, and engaging course. I would welcome the opportunity to take another class with him in the future.

Lectures were clear and engaging. Peris wove in current events to explain political concepts, which made the content a lot easier for me to follow. There were 7 optional quizzes that were all multiple choice and could be used to help raise your grade. The midterm consisted of 25 multiple choice questions, 10 short answers (worth 5 points each), and an essay (worth 25 points). I think the average was 90 so everyone did pretty well. There were 7 homework assignments, but we could choose 4 to do. The assignments were essay responses to a prompt that tied in with the lectures. There was a two page minimum. We were given a "life happens" pass at the beginning of the quarter that could excuse any late assignment. The final ended up being an optional essay. For the most part, Peris was accommodating and understanding. He cares about his students and their learning.

(CORONA REVIEW) Being made online, the class consisted of a midterm, weekly homework assignments (ended up being changed to only 4), a final, and optional weekly quizzes. Very easy to keep up with the weekly topics and attendance was required in discussion sections with participation being accounted for. Homework assignments were 2-3 pages of double spaced writing about a few guiding questions about the week's topic. Midterm had multiple choice, short answers, and an essay, but majority of the people I know didn't even end up getting to finish their essay completely. The final ended up becoming optional given a few different events that required correction from the Poli Sci department. Overall, a pretty easy class that allowed for conversation and study of modern American politics.

Good professor with very clear, detailed slides that he uploads after every lecture. Midterm and Final format includes a long essay, some short answers, and some multiple choice, but as long as you pay attention in lecture and read parts of the textbook, this class is not that difficult. Selling the required textbook for this class $35 @madising.21@gmail.com

Peris was a great professor who spent a lot of time composing his lecture slides and delivering engaging lectures. His presentation of the material was clear, concise, and he really only mentions and emphasizes the most important aspects of the topics we learn. Textbook is a good read, although his slides and presentations are more than enough for the tests if you take good notes. During my quarter, he got in trouble for his last lecture, but it was an honest mistake that he apologized profusely for and only did for the sake of "historic context". Would be really sad to hear if he got fired for this reason - he is a great teacher that simply made a mistake. Would take his class again.

One of the best professors to teach Poli Sci 40, Professor Peris made the optimal use of the resources given, and allowed the students to really understand the subject in depth. He is fair about grading, and gives a lot of notice in advance when he wants an assignment or quiz done in a particular way. The homework assignments are not ridiculous and very much doable, while the exams are highly focused on the syllabus, and do not include concepts from outside the syllabus. Excellent stuff!

Great class and professor! Peris is very knowledgeable about American politics and made even the more mundane parts of the course content interesting. There's a lot of reading, but in my experience you don't really need to do it all. Definitely take this class!

Loved this class, honestly. I had a pretty solid background of American politics from AP US Gov but I think Peris definitely added on and enhanced my understanding of the topic. He has good slides, lectures well, and is very knowledgeable. I thought the grading was very fair and the assignments were actually kind of fun. We had to write I believe five essays about certain topics, but they hardly involved any research and took me maybe two hours each. I think he made the class a bit more bearable for COVID and all tests and quizzes (quizzes were based on reading) were open note, but they were overall easy anyways. He also did a good job of incorporating current events into his lectures, especially since the election fell in the middle of the quarter. Cares about student's learning as well. 11/10 would recommend. I really enjoyed going to lecture. And he has two cats that meow in the backgrounds sometimes.

There is a lot of reading, but I did learn a lot from this class.